


when that hotline bling (it can only mean one thing)

by KBZ



Category: Eyeshield 21
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Best read on a device that can properly show emojis, Fluff, Like things were simmering behind the scenes and this was the push, M/M, Modern Setting, Oblivious Kobayakawa Sena, Pre-Slash, Secret Crush, Shin has one of those indestructible phone cases that's how this works, Texting, emojis, fast burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23258818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KBZ/pseuds/KBZ
Summary: Shin gets a phone, and Sena helps him figure it out (for the greater good).AKA Shin going hog wild when Sena teaches him about emojis.
Relationships: Kobayakawa Sena/Shin Seijuurou
Comments: 25
Kudos: 111





	when that hotline bling (it can only mean one thing)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic got away from me LOL

“I have a phone, Kobayakawa,” Shin says one crisp Saturday morning.

“O-Oh…?” Sena can’t say much else due to his surprise. Shin has a _phone_. Shin _stopped jogging_ to tell him. In all their time jogging together, they have never stopped so much to drink water. Sena composes himself. “That’s great, Shin-san! How are you liking it so far?”

“I am still getting used to it. You have a phone as well, correct?”

“Ah, I do.”

Shin nods, maintaining heavy eye contact with Sena, while he pulls his phone out of the zippered pocket of his pants. He holds his phone with incredible care, like he’s scared he’ll break it. And knowing Shin, it’s a valid concern.

“Your phone is so nice!” Sena marvels at the sleek design hidden underneath a case so sturdy it makes the phone look like a brick. “Mine is kind of an older generation. I bet yours has a really good camera.”

“You can take photos with a phone?” Shin’s face contorts into confusion. “I must not have gotten to that point in the user manual.”

Sena bites his tongue at Shin’s cluelessness. It’s not like Shin is proud to be technologically illiterate. He’s trying to be better: holding back his monstrous strength, carefully handling his phone, reading through the user’s manual. Sena’s never done so much preparation for using a phone or any other technological device in his life. It’s… adorable.

“Yeah, you can actually use phones for a lot of things.”

“Are those uses listed in the user’s manual?”

“Um… not exactly.” Sena worries the hem of his sweatshirt. It would be downright criminal to leave Shin to his own devices. The phone would be dust in a matter of seconds. For the greater good, Sena decides to ask: “Would you like some help setting it up?”

. . .

They decide to cut their training short in favor of settling this fiasco.

“You can think of this like… like e-training!” Sena says excitedly as they make their way to a nearby café. They get a table in the outdoor seating area since it’s a nice day out but mostly because they haven’t showered and smell like death.

“E-training,” Shin says, savoring the word. They’re sitting next to each other with Shin’s phone between them.

“Do you mind if I look through to see what you have so far?” Sena asks, feeling the sun heat his face.

“Go ahead,” Shin says and unlocks his phone.

A waiter sets some menus down at their table meanwhile. Sena goes ahead and orders a waffle pastry, seeing as he has some spare pocket money. Seijuro asks for plain water.

“Okay, so,” Sena says after a moment of fiddling around through the user settings. “Um, you’ve set up the most important parts, like your passcode and email.”

“Takami-senpai helped with that,” Seijuro says. He leans in closer to see the screen. Even with an umbrella over their little table, it’s still hard to see the display with how bright the sun is.

“That’s one thing we can cross off the list then.” Sena hides the fact that he’s a little surprised Shin even has an email. Sena clears his throat. “I can go through the basics, then. You know how to turn it off and on and the volume, obviously… right?”

“Yes.”

“Good! Yes! I didn’t doubt you for a second, um! Anyway!” Sena wants to fan his face. The heat is really getting to him today. “So… what else, what else? Do you know about wifi and Bluetooth?”

Shin stares blankly at Sena.

“Ah… okay, maybe that’s lesson number two. Oh! What about contacts?”

Shin perks up.

“That’s where their phone number is saved?”

“Yeah! Do you have any so far?”

“My parents, and my sister, and some Oujou players.”

“Do you know how to add new contacts?”

“I do not.”

“Oh, okay. It’s really simple.” Sena is about to start his instructions when Seijuro cuts in.

“Could you demonstrate?”

“You’re right, that would be easier to follow.” Sena opens up the appropriate screens and instructs Shin, step-by-step. “… and here is where the other person would write everything. Then you’ll be able to contact them at any time.”

The waiter arrives then with their orders. Sena munches on his waffle sandwich contently. He’s always ravenous after workouts. Shin is staring intently at the screen. His brows furrow together in determination before he looks up sharply at Sena.

“Can I have your number?”

A chunk of waffle falls from Sena’s mouth.

“ _M-mine_? You… you want mine?”

“Yes,” Shin says though he looks the slightest bit unsure.

Sena’s quick to rectify that. “I mean of course! Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting that. I thought you would like only your friends and family in your contacts and, well, yeah.”

“We’re friends,” Shin says.

Sena is in the throes of ecstasy. _The_ Shin Seijuro just confirmed that wimpy ol’ Sena is his friend.

Sena wants to say that he’s honored, but he also doesn’t want to scare Shin away.

“You’re right,” Sena says bashfully. He smiles despite himself, typing in his phone number and email and, for no good reason, his home address.

“Thank you,” Shin says. He takes a long sip of water.

They continue their lesson. It turns out, Shin knows how to send calls as well, but after that he’s unsure.

“Why don’t you try sending a text?”

Shin navigates his phone like he’s a retiree but ten times more serious. He looks like he’s trying to solve the world’s most intricate puzzle. Sena hides his smile behind his sandwich. His phone dings a text notification.

****

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_Hello Knahakawa._

_Kibahanawa._

_Hi Shin-san!_

_It’s okay, take your time!!_

Shin grunts in frustration.

“It’s a hard name,” Sena says. He takes the opportunity to save Shin into his contacts.

“It’s a fine name, Kobayakawa. I can spell it, but I keep hitting the wrong buttons.”

“That can happen if you have bigger hands.”

“Does it happen to you?”

“Eh heh, no, I, my hands are, well,” Sena shrugs. He still can’t hold a football with one hand. “Maybe leaving voice messages would be easier for you. It’s sort of like a text.”

Shin nods seriously as Sena shows him how to leave a voice text.

“Thank you,” Shin says. He gets up from the table and leaves. He jumps the little gate that fences the outside restaurant seating, and jogs away.

Sena blinks at the empty space previously occupied by Shin.

A few seconds later, his phone dings again.

****

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_[Audio message]: Is this working? Can you hear me, Kobayakawa?_

_loud and clear!_

_i thought you had left haha ^^;_

Familiar steps approach closer as Shin runs back to his seat. The breeze ruffles Sena’s bangs once Shin returns to his seat.

“I apologize for rudely running away like that. I wanted to try out the feature and see if it really worked,” Shin explains. “What is _that_?”

“Um… it’s a waffle breakfast sandwich.”

“No,” Shin crowds closer to point at Sena’s screen. “That.”

“That’s… Shin-san, have you never seen an emoticon before?”

“It looks like a face.”

“Yeah, they help convey what you mean better than just using words. You know, because like sometimes you can say something but the other person might think it means something else.”

“I see,” Shin says. “What did your emoticon mean?”

Sena chokes a bit on his water.

“Oh, just,” Sena waves his napkin around, trying to distract from his pink cheeks. “I was relieved that you hadn’t… you know… actually left me.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Shin’s face has no room for argument. “Can you show me more?”

“More emoticons?”

Shin nods eagerly as if he’s learning a new defensive play. Sena himself is kind of enjoying it as well.

About five minutes later, Sena’s text log is as follows:

****

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_:)_

_:D_

_> :(_

_XD_

_:3_

_> :3c_

_;3_

_uwu_

_^^;_

_T-T_

_-_-_

Sena can’t picture Shin sending even half of them, but Shin looks enthralled. Sena decides to enter the world of emojis. Twenty minutes after that, Sena’s text log is in disarray:

****

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_😀_ _🤗_ _🤩_

_🤩 _🤡__ _🤩_ _🤩_

__🤣_ _🤣_ _

__🤡_ _🤡 _👀_ _😎_ _😎__ _

___😎 _😂_ _😂____

____🤣_ _ _ _

____✨_ _✨_ _✨ _ _😈_ ___ _ _

_____🎉_ _☃️_ _☃️_ 😎 _😅_ _😅_ _😅 _👻___ _ _ _

______🤧_ _😈_ _😈______

______😈______ _😈😈👻_

_🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈_

_🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈_

_🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈_

_🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈_

_🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈_

_🏈 Thank you Kobayakawa 🏈_

They continue going over more features on Shin’s phone, downloading some useful apps, personalizing the backgrounds, and even snapping a few pictures. Shin’s very keen on the health related apps with tracking personal fitness and eating habits, but even that is partially overshadowed by his fascination with the camera app. Shin’s photos are blurry and have the corner of his thumb in most of them.

“I’ve never taken photos before,” Shin confides. He’s taking a photo of Sena’s leftovers. “My parent’s never let me touch a camera after I broke the third one.”

“Never too late to start,” Sena says. “Now you can take a photo of anything you like.”

Shin points the camera at Sena who doesn’t have enough time to duck out of view. Shin sends him the photo.

“Ah,” Sena says. Blotchy cheeks, bed head, sweaty workout clothes. What little ego he had is shattered. “Maybe we delete that one…”

Shin holds his phone out of Sena’s reach.

“I would like to keep it.”

“But—okay,” Sena relents. Sena spends the next few minutes watching Shin take photos – and then _videos_ – of their surroundings before he realizes how late it’s gotten. They’ve spent almost three hours together in a non-fitness setting. “I’m sorry! I really have to go. I have a lot of homework that I totally need to finish.”

“That’s okay. Thank you, Kobayakawa,” Shin says contently.

Sena pays his bill before they part ways.

He gets a text notification soon after:

****

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_[Audio message]: Thank you for helping me out today_

_🌞📱_

_:3 :D 🏋️_

_🏃😁_

Sena stops walking to stare at the text. Specifically the emoji choices. He may have created a monster.

. . .

After that it’s not too uncommon for Sena to receive the odd voice text followed by an emoji throughout the day. Sena’s hasn’t texted this much possibly ever. Which means the rest of the Devilbats eventually notice. They’re in the club house during lunch when it happens.

“You’ve been texting an awful lot lately,” Suzuna says. Her antenna twitches in his direction, picking up a signal of… something Sena would rather not address.

Sena debates his options: to tell or not to tell. Both routes of obvious displeasure that will bring destruction. He decides on the lesser evil.

“I’ve, ummm, I’ve been texting Shin-san,” he admits.

The entire room zones in on Sena like he has a spotlight shining down on him.

“ _Shin_?” Jumonji asks like he’s never heard of the word before.

Monta has stopped peeling a banana. Kuroki and Togano have stopped reading _Jump_. Suzuna looks like she’s rebooting. Her face is blank. Even Yukimitsu has looked up. The news seems to be more serious than Sena had previously assessed.

“You… you broke Suzuna,” Monta says.

“Listen, Shin-san recently got a phone, and I sort of helped him figure it out a little.” Sena’s starting to sweat under his uniform.

“ _Shin_? Oujo Shin? Shin with the spear tackle?” Jumonji has gone from being mild confused to full on disoriented. “The one who broke a brand new laptop by only _holding_ it? That Shin?”

Sena nods weakly.

“Bastard,” Jumonji mutters under his breath.

“I have got to see this,” Kuroki says.

Before Sena can literally sprint out of the room, the door is shut and locked by Komusubi.

“P-Phone!” Komusubi yells.

Sena hands it over with an extended discontent groan. He and Shin haven’t texted anything scandalous or offensive, but just the thought of someone reading his text log with Shin makes him flush hot with embarrassment even if it’s mostly emoticons. No one pays his suffering any heed. As usual.

“What. the. fuck.” Kuroki says, eloquent as ever.

“This is so goddamn weird,” Jumonji adds.

“I’ve read weirder,” Togano says.

Suzuna has taken the lead in scrolling through. She looks up suspiciously at him.

“Explain,” she demands.

“I was going to! Shin-san uses audio messages. You guys know those expire!”

“Explain the emojis,” Suzuna says.

“Yeah, he really likes using them.” Sena shrugs helplessly. “There’s not much more explanation than that.”

“He’s using winky cat faces?! I don’t even know how to feel right now! Like how am I supposed to process that Shin would use an XD face? He never emotes in real life!” Suzuna stares back at the screen, jaw agape.

“It’s possible he likes emojis because it allows him to express things he usually can’t due to unused social muscles,” Yukimitsu says.

“That… sounds reasonable,” Sena says. He’s never thought about it like that.

“There’s no recent messages,” Kuroki complains. “I wanna hear what he says.”

“It’s usually just stuff about school or training or football. Nothing that exciting.” Despite his words, Sena can’t deny he does feel a little rush of excitement when he opens a text from Shin. “So if I could please get my phone back, guys? Please?”

“Boo, okay,” Suzuna says.

Then Sena’s phone dings.

“Open it! Open it!” Monta says.

“Guys—that’s—I’m—”

_“Kobayakawa,_ ” Shin’s voice sounds from Sena’s phone. It sounds like he’s in the cafeteria. _“Sakuraba showed me these emoticons called ‘dongers’ today. There is one that I think reflects us on the field.”_

“Oh my god,” Suzuna says with an open-mouthed smile of incredulity. Monta shares her same expression.

“Strange!” Komusubi says.

Togano and Kuroki share a look like they’ve stepped into a parallel universe.

“ _This_ is _Shin_? Are you sure?” Jumonji asks. “ _Shin_?!”

“That’s the sort of stuff he sends me,” Sena says, wincing as another text pops through.

The group erupts into laughter as they read the text.

“He’s got a good sense of humor,” Togano says.

“This is too strange, _what the fuck_?” Kuroki says.

“Very interesting,” Yukimitsu notes. “It looks like he’s having fun.”

“He made a meme,” Suzuna says.

“My phone please,” Sena asks.

Suzuna hands it back delicately.

“I’m—thank you for this,” she says. “I need time to compose myself.”

“ _Shin?!_ ” Jumonji asks again, still disbelieving.

Sena scrolls through his text log to see what the ruckus was about as he gets another notification:

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_YOU THERE(○_ _｀_ _д´)_ _ﾉｼ_ _STOP! Σ(_ _っﾟ_ _Д_ _ﾟ_ _)_ _っ_ _Eeeek!_

_[Audio message]: I am the one telling you to stop and you are the one outrunning me._

Sena joins into the laughter as the group overhears Shin’s message.

“So yeah,” Sena says.

“What a weird guy,” Monta says. “Kinda funny, though.” He resumes eating his banana, and as if on cue, the rest of the room goes back to their activities.

There’s still ten minutes left for lunch. Sena packs up and heads outside, somewhere more private, in case Shin wants to send more messages. Suzuna sends him one last suspicious look, her antenna pointing his way, before he leaves.

. . .

During the evenings, Shin and Sena sometimes even carry out further conversations about their days. Shin has called twice, but overall prefers instant messaging though sometimes it frustrates him as well.

It’s surprisingly nice.

Shin also sends lots of pictures. He’s sent pictures of cooking with his parents in the evening, his food, holes in his running shoes, sometimes just random surroundings. Sena sends a photo of Pitt once, her all cuddled up on his lap. Shin replies with:

_(´•ω•｀♥) (♡´･ᴗ･`♡)_

Sena spends a few seconds thinking he’s going into cardiac arrest, before replying with a “same lol!”.

When they meet up to go jogging again that weekend, Shin expresses disliking not being able to use the voice text feature since it deletes his messages.

“I do like that I don’t have to use my hands, however,” Shin says while they do cool down stretches.

“There’s a feature that’s voice-to-text. Maybe you’ll like that better?”

“Please show me, Kobayakawa,” Shin says.

Sena can’t help but smile at how serious Shin takes it. They sit by the side of the river while Sena guides Shin through the feature. Again, Shin jogs around the corner to test it out.

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_Hello. This is my first voice text. Is this working? Question mark send._

_LOL_

_yes, it’s working! :)_

_Send. What? No. Stop. Hm._

_No, don’t send. Erase, stop._

_What is so funny? Question mark. Send. Stop recording._

_Kobayakawa, help._

_You have to press the mic button again :O_

_There are no buttons on my phone except._

_Ah I locked it. It is still recording._

_Urgent send._

Sena is still chuckling when Shin jogs back.

“You figured it out!” Sena praises.

“There is a hidden talent to using this.” Shin looks distrustfully at his phone. “I believe I have the hang of it now. For the most part.”

“I think so too!” Sena scratches his cheek lightly. “Also you, eh, don’t have to say punctuation.”

Shin stiffens slightly. He types something quickly on his phone and moments later Sena gets an alert.

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

**_😳_ **

****

Sena bursts into giggles and even Shin cracks a smile.

. . .

Now that Shin has a better communication method, their texts are almost constant during the evenings. His mom notices him using his phone more now.

“I’m glad we pay for the unlimited plan,” she says indulgently. “Anyone we should know about?”

“Dear…” Sena’s dad says.

“Mom!” Sena’s mortified. He puts his phone away for the rest of dinner. “Nothing—it’s—ah, don’t… please don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so,” she sing-songs. Sena hopes his mother and Suzuna never meet.

Later that night, Shin surprises Sena with a video call. Sena rushes to his room to answer.

“What am I doing?” he says under his breath when he catches himself trying to fix his hair in the mirror. Thankfully his room is neat and tidy, so he sits on his bed. The lighting is better there—he sits on his bed for _comfort_.

“Hi, Shin-san!”

“Good evening Kobayakawa,” Shin says. He’s holding the camera below his chin while seeming to walk upstairs. It’s an unflattering angle, but Sena thinks it’s charming that Shin doesn’t care about such things. “I learned how to video call on my own.”

“That’s awesome! I totally forgot to mention you could do stuff like this.” Sena lays on his side, phone angled with him.

“I did use the user’s manual to guide me through it. My parents are impressed I have not broken anything yet.”

“Building trust! Soon they’ll let you hold an actual camera, huh?”

“Yes, that is my overarching goal,” Shin says seriously. He enters his room and lays down. “That is a joke a by the way. I wish I could send a laughing emoji.”

Sena cracks up. “I think I got it. Oh! By the way Pitt just entered my room. I think she wants to say hi—one second—let me… here we go!” Sena flips the camera and points it at Pitt using her scratching post.

Shin spends a long while admiring Pitt. “She is adorable. How did you do that with your camera?”

“Oh, I just flipped it.” Sena returns the camera to face him. With the way they are both laying on their sides, it gives the illusion as if they were next to each other. “There should be a little icon on the top right I think.”

“I will try—hmm. Ah I locked my camera again. My apologies, one moment please.”

Sena’s screen shows Shin groping about with the app.

“This is… hmm…” Shin grunts. Shin fumbles his phone and it looks like he almost lets go. Very quietly, Shin mutters, “…fuck.”

Sena’s entire body grows hot. He’s never heard Shin cursed. He never thought Shin could even curse. Sena’s hands are sweating.

Just as Shin regains control of his phone, a loud bang comes from Shin’s room.

“Oh no,” Shin says, rolling his eyes. “It’s my sister—”

The screen erupts into chaos as Shin is bombarded by his sister, Kari. Sena’s never seen her, but she flashes into view, about Sena’s age, with an impish look.

“Seijuro~! Why did you leave dinner so suddenly, huh? Hmm? You trying to hide someone? Who are you calling? Let me see~!”

“Kari—no, get out, this is my room, stop, you are behaving—Kari, _Kari_ ,” Shin rapidly loses control of the situation. The screen shows hands grappling for control of the phone.

“Is that _him_? Hey are you _Kobayakawa_? My brother—”

The call ends abruptly.

Not even a minute later, Shin sends Sena a text:

**_From Shin Seijuro:_ **

_My sister is a lot to handle. I did not wish to cut the call short. I just got her to leave._

__😒_ (๑•̀д•́๑)😪 😤_

_no worries :D_

_so what’s up?_

_I am currently just in bed. I just wanted to talk with you._

_😅_ _🤗_

Sena stares at Shin’s reply. His stomach flutters a little bit. Maybe he ate something bad today.

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_Hopefully I did not interrupt dinner or any studies you may have._

_🤓(ס_ס;;)_ (ס_ס;;) _🤭_

_nope, I was just relaxing!_

Sena chews his lip. He sends the next message with trembling fingers.

_I like receiving your texts and stuff_ _😊_

_That is good to hear. Would you like to see a meme that Sakuraba sent me?_

_It is about football._

_🏈_ _🏋_ _️_ _🏋_ _️_

_let's see it!!!_ _😁_

Before Sena knows it, two hours have gone by. He tells Shin he has to head to sleep. Shin replies almost immediately:

_Alright. You have a goodnight, Kobayakawa. Have sweet dreams._

_😴_ _💤_ _😌_ _🌌_ _🌑_

Sena wraps his covers tight around his head. He feels that fluttering effect all throughout his body, ending at his rapidly beating heart.

_you too Shin-san, thank you_ _😄_

With reckless abandon, Sena decides to add:

_Have sweet dreams as well_ _✨_ _💖_

He has no explanation for why he did it. He doesn’t care. He cares a little. The heart also has sparkles in it—like stars. It makes sense why sent it. They were talking about going to sleep, nighttime, stars. It makes sense. God, why did he do that? He puts his phone on silent. He ends up staring at his ceiling, waiting for his face to cool down until he eventually succumbs to sleep.

. . .

Sena feels great the next morning until he remembers what happened. He shuts his alarm off, and there is already a message from Shin.

He considers ignoring it. Blocking Shin’s number. Dropping out of school. Moving overseas.

He works up the courage to open it:

**_From: Shin Seijuro_ **

_Good morning, Kobayakawa. I hope you have a good day._

_Today I will be starting with a jog before doing preventative injury work._

_🌄_ _🌹_ _❤_ _️_

It is too early to look too closely at anything. Like the happy thrill that ran along his spine. Shin probably doesn’t mean anything by it. Sena didn’t even mean anything by it when he sent his text. Okay, he may have meant something by it. Maybe. If Shin’s text means something then Sena’s also means something. Urgh.

_Good morning to you too :)!_

Sena’s still deliberating if he should add something more when Shin sends another message.

_My phone updated last night. I got new emojis._

_This one reminds me of you._

_🥺_

_how??_

_It is adorable._

_😄_

Oh, Sena thinks. His heart beat is going crazy. Okay. Okayokayokay. He summons the last allotment of his daily courage and replies:

_🥰_

Sena finally caves. It’s the last straw. He can’t help himself anymore.

He opens the “edit contacts” menu and adds a heart emoji next to Shin’s name.

As soon as he’s done, he throws his phone (carefully) across the room onto his bed and gets ready for class. He goes downstairs and sticks his head into the freezer.

“What’s wrong, honey?” his mom asks.

“I think I’m getting a cold.”

“You are looking a little feverish. I’ll make you some tea.”

“Thanks, mom.”

He’s thankful it’s Friday. He’s pretty sure he can keep things under wraps until he talks with Shin this weekend. He’s actually looking forward to their training more than usual.

. . .

Unknown to Sena, Shin has had Sena saved as (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ 💕 _🏈_ SENA KOBAYAKAWA _🏈_ ✧ 🌹 💐: .` (◕‿◕✿) since getting his contact information. Sakuraba did it as a joke. Shin thought it was fitting and kept it, without one shred of irony or shame.

**Author's Note:**

> You better bet they went back to that cafe to officially have their first date.
> 
> Please understand this was me thinking "lol how would shin text" and the answer that struck me was "go stupid asjdkdhahdb go crazy”.
> 
> Also Sena, PLEASE, ya mans indirectly asked for your number twice. ur killing me here.


End file.
